Common garment hangers are often used to support clothing in a raised position along a horizontal rod, such as those typically found in a closet. Common garment hangers typically consist of a unitary, fixed structure that is hung from the horizontal rod via a supporting hook, while clothing is supported on a lower portion of the garment hanger. The horizontal supporting rods utilized for clothing storage are usually fixed between sixty and sixty-six inches from the floor. People of short stature, children, handicapped, or otherwise injured individuals may have difficulty reaching for a garment hung at this height. Injured individuals may experience pain in their joints or dizziness when reaching for the garment. If a small child cannot reach a hanging garment, the child will often grab the bottom of the garment and forcefully pull it off of the garment hanger. This can cause damage to the clothing, the hangers, or the horizontal support rod. Further, individuals who are short of stature may need to utilize a step ladder or chair to reach the garment, which poses an inconvenience and a potential safety hazard. Additionally, handicapped individuals may have no means of reaching a garment hanging at standard heights. There is a need for a height adjustable hanger to allow aforementioned individuals to easily reach and retrieve hanging clothing.
For many individuals, it is important to maintain an efficient and organized closet space. Standard garment hangers store garments at a standard height in relation to one another. When all garments are stored on the same horizontal support rod, the width of the storage space within the closet is limited. The efficiency of the storage space is reduced because the space beneath the bottom of the hanging garments and the floor is left unused for storage. It is also less aesthetically pleasing to hang garments at a universal height on the same horizontal support rod as opposed to matching top garments such as shirts to bottom garments such as pants.
Adjustable garment hangers exist in the prior art. However, these prior art devices have several known drawbacks. Some prior art devices provide garment hangers that are adjustable in size, but these devices include many interchangeable parts and components, which requires the user to expend unnecessary time and effort to reconfigure the garment hanger. Other prior art devices provide series of complicated hooks that can be secured to one another, but these devices are unable to function as typical garment hangers having a swiveling supporting hook, which may be desirable for providing a uniform and aesthetically pleasing storage space. Still, other prior art garment hangers have expanding attachments that allow for multiple articles to be hung from one hanger in the name of efficiency and organization, but do not allow for vertical adjustment of the hanger to control the height of the stored article of clothing for accessibility purposes.
In light of the drawbacks of prior art garment hangers, it is submitted that the present invention substantially diverges in design elements from the prior art and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to existing garment hangers. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills these needs.